When the horse was first domesticated several
thousand years ago (actual time is somewhat debated… it is felt it was sometime
between 4000 and 2000 BC), the saddle blanket was the first and only piece of
equipment placed on the horse's back. It was attached with a strap or rope and
used primarily to protect the rider.
Over the next several thousand years, the saddle blanket eventually developed
extra padding or folds for the rider's comfort.

It is thought that the Sumarians invented the
first saddle in approximately 365 AD. After this new invention, and the saddle
became used more widely, the blanket or pad
evolved into more of a cushion and protection for the horse's back, and
created a supporting base for the saddle. [1]

Horse-shaped terra
cotta vases were found in Iran (ancient Persia) dating
from 8th and 7th century BC.

Yellow-buff terracotta horse-shaped vase

Decoration
consists of birds and flowers

From Azerbaijan (Maku) 8th
-7th century BC

Archaeology Museum,
Tehran, Iran

Yellow-buff
horse-shaped terracotta vase

Light
brick red decoration showing wild boars and birds.

7th century BC, Achaemenid
village, Susa.

Archaeology Museum,
Tehran, Iran

Saddle blankets found
in Pazyryk region in Southern Siberia in 1920 have been dated back to the 5th century BC.

“Saddles used by the ancient
Altaic nomads differ from those used today. They were devoid of a wooden base
and consisted of two leather cushions filled with reindeer hair, or sometimes
with hey, and sewn together on one side. The saddle was attached to a horse's
back with a saddle-girth. Felt saddle covers were traditionally decorated with
scenes showing a beast of prey tearing at a herbivorous animal.

The Hermitage saddle cover
shows two identical compositions in an appliqué technique with a griffin
attacking an ibex (mountain goat). Such dynamic scenes with one animal tearing
at another were a motif typical of the whole of the Scythian world.

The ibex is depicted with its
forelegs tucked, and hind quarters turned upwards. The Scythian artist used
this device to convey the animal's death agonies. The pendants attached to the
edge of the cover are trimmed with horse-hair dyed red, and decorated with
stylized heads of mouflons (sheep) and horned tigers.”

A beautiful example from China…

Tang
Dynasty, mid-8th century AD

Astana, China

British Museum, London, United
Kingdom

“This figure formed part of the furnishings
from a tomb, together with other figurines of horses and a camel. Although made
from clay and wood, it was based on sancai-glazed ceramic examples placed in
tombs of metropolitan China at this time. Painted markings on its body indicate
that this is a bay-coated horse. There are petal-shaped pieces of silk on the
body. Its wooden legs could be fixed to the floor of a niche in the tomb. The saddle-blanket is shown as magnificently
embroidered and remnants of silk indicate where stirrups would have
hung.”

Interestingly, it appears that from nearly the very
beginning, saddle blankets were decorated
either through embroidery or added ornamentations. They were also of varying
length, sizes and shapes.

Early History Resources

McBane, Susan. The Essential Book of Horse
Tack and Equipment. David & Charles, Devon,
England, 2002

Archaeology Museum, Tehran, Iran

State Russian Museum, St.
Petersburg, Russian

MEDIEVAL SADDLE BLANKETS

Norman knight during the Battle of Hastings

Detail of the Bayeux Tapestry, 11th century.

Museum of Reading,
Berkshire, United Kingdom

The Journey of the Maji

Gentile da Fabriano,

Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

1423

Cavalry

Topkapi Palace (Museum) Istanbul,
Turkey

15th century

Embroidered and Appliquéd Caparison

16th Century jousting armour with
armorial inlay by Anton Peffenhauser and a caparison showing multiple
quarterings.

Germanisches Nationalmuseum,
Nürnberg

(German National Museum,
Nuremberg)

Medieval
Saddle Blanket Resources

Bayeau Tapestry, Museum of
Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Topkapi Palace (Museum) Istanbul,
Turkey

Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg

SHABRACK

A shabrack or shabraque, originating from the Turkish word
"chapraq", is a saddlecloth
used by mounted military units as an aid in identifying and providing
uniformity to their cavalries.

Laurence Marcellus Larson
translated The King's Mirror, written approximately 1250 AD, from the
Old Norwegian in 1918. [2]

Chapter XXXVIII: Weapons for Offense and Defense

“He should also have a good shabrack
made like a gambison of soft and thoroughly blackened linen cloth, for this is
good protection against all kinds of weapons. It
may be decorated as one likes, and over the shabrack there should be a
good harness of mail.”

Shabraques and
regimental facing coverings becameofficially established with regulation colors in the
late 17th century. [3]

Saddle
blankets have not changed a lot in1500 years, obviously they're there to
fulfill a function, but they can also be very pleasing to the eye.

Turkoman horseman

Samuel Martinovich Dudin, 1901

Russian Museum for Ethnography, St.
Petersburg, Russia

Note the embroidered felt saddle
blanket and felt bedroll

Modern wool felt embroidered saddle
blanket

For sale on
www.jennifersimagination.com

Western saddle wool felt blanket

(20th century)

www.valleyvet.com

Recent Wool Felted Saddle Blankets

Russian Museum for Ethnography, St.
Petersburg, Russia

www.jennifersimagination.com

www.valleyvet.com

WHAT ARE SADDLE
BLANKETS MADE OF?

Saddle blankets
are usually of a woven or felted material, and
most often wool. Wool is easily available, and does an excellent job of
absorbing moisture (i.e. sweat) and releasing heat buildup off the horse's back.
Wool also has the wonderful property of not sliding as much as other materials,
which gives a more secure seat to the
saddle without having to overly tighten the cinch, which can cause it's own set
of problems on long rides, i.e. saddle sores. While saddle blankets have been
used for almost 2 thousand years with all types of saddles, today saddle
blankets are usually associated with the western-type saddle. [5]

Saddle pads, a similar item, are usually thicker, with
layers of felt, foam or other modern material sandwiched between a tough outer
cover on top and a softer cover on the side against the horse's back. The best
designs absorb shock and minimize fatigue for the horse's back muscle. [6]

*** It
should also be noted that a pad or blanket cannot and should not take the place
of a properly fitted saddle. [7]

In my own experience…
having ridden with many types of saddle blankets from non-slip neoprene, to
cotton, and felted and woven wool, my all-time favorite is a felted wool
blanket. It seems to do a much better job holding up to the wear and tear of
riding, better than any of the other types of materials I've tried. And
perhaps the best testimony is that my horses have never developed saddle sores
with a wool-felted blanket.

When the time comes to clean it, a hose is all you need. If
there are grease spots for whatever reason (transporting, etc.) a dab of Dawn
dishwashing detergent takes care of it… although, care must be used to rinse it
thoroughly. Drip dry and you're ready go riding again.

I've slept on my wool-felted saddle blanket many times
during camping trips. They do a wonderful job of keeping the cold away.
They're also very comfortable to lie on. And what can be better than lying on
your horse's blanket by the campfire, looking up at the stars and moon and
feeling the bond between you and your horse.

What Are Saddle Blankets Made Of Resources

McBane, Susan. The Essential Book of Horse Tack and
Equipment. David & Charles, Devon, England 2002

My project is patterned
after the saddle blankets in this Persian manuscript miniature. Flowers and
vines, often times with an animal in the vine work.

Sarai Albums,

16th Century, Tabriz, Iran

Hazine 2161, folio 4a

MATERIALS & METHOD OF
CONSTRUCTION

I recycled a felted wool
blanket.

Wool fabric used for
horse appliqués.

Wool thread used for
embroidery, appliqué and binding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I decided to use wool felt for this project because of my
positive experiences using it with my horses.

I measured my mare
from withers (shoulders) towards her tail to get an idea of how much material I
needed for this project. I measured my blanket making careful note of the
areas that were not usable. After my calculations, I decided I had a 57-inch
by 50-inch rectangular piece of felted wool.

I cut the felted wool
blanket down to my usable material. Noticing there were areas that were a
little on the thin side, I decided to “full the
felt.”

Felting and Fulling

Felting is the process of
reducing or matting wool fibers.

Fulling the felt is fluffing
the matted fibers.

Fulling the felt involved working the felt with hot water in
my bathtub (because of the size of the felted wool, by rolling and squeezing it
in my hands. [8] After rinsing carefully, I rolled the felted wool between
two towels and squeezed the excess water from the material.

I finished it off by ironing the blanket on high heat (wool
setting).

Two reasons…

1) to help speed the drying of the material, and

2) to flatten it out. While I was ironing it, I was looking
for thin spots that might have needed more attention. I was very happy with
the way the blanket turned out after this process.

Continuing on with my project, I cut out 4 horse appliqués from my purple wool material. A pair
for each side.

When doing your own saddle
blanket... let your imagination be your guide… animals, flowers, shapes,
geometric designs… all were used in Persian embroidery.

I purchased 10 skeins
of 3-ply wool yarn from my local yarn merchant. My intent was to separate the
plies and use them as my “embroider thread.”

1 cut 18-inch pieces of yarn, and the plies, which were not
tightly spun, separated quite easily.

I did not knot my “wool
thread” I ran it through the material and back under itself to “lock” it in
place. This left a much smoother look to the embroidery and blanket
itself.

Embroidering

Embroidering is the ornamentation of fabric with needlework.

As a beginner in embroidering, I felt it prudent to get
assistance from the internet and beginning embroidery books.

I used 4 stitches on
my blanket…

The running stitch…

“Pass the needle in and out of the fabric, making the
surface stitches of equal length. The stitches on the underside should also be
of equal length, but half the size or less than the upper stitches.” [9]

The chain stitch…

“Bring the thread up at the top of the line and hold it down
with the left thumb. Insert the needle where it last emerged and bring the
point out a short distance away. Pull the thread through, keeping the working
thread under the needle point.” [10]

The back stitch…

“Bring the thread through on
the stitch line and then take a small backward stitch through the fabric. Bring
the needle through again a little in front of the first stitch, then take
another stitch, inserting the needle at the point where it first came through.”
[11]

Finishing off my project with:

The blanket stitch…

“A popular finishing stitch for
edges. Work stitch from left to right, bringing needle from back to front at A.
Insert needle from front to back to front in a single motion at B and C. Before
pulling needle through fabric, carry floss under point of needle as shown in
illustration. Special note: needle exit point C is A of following stitch.
Stitch length can be alternated to add a pattern effect to the finishing edge.”
[12]

Once my project was completed, I soaked the blanket again
and gently massaged the stitches into the felt. Hung it carefully to dry with
two towels beneath it to catch the excess water dripping down the fringe.

I was not able to embroider wool thread on the wool felt
with any sort of accuracy. Stitches too small tore through the felting.
Stitches too large looked clumsy to me. Therefore my designs are simplistic
and large and (to me) look as if a 3-year old child (my apologies to any 3-year
olds in the audience) grasped a large Crayola crayon in their fist and started
drawing on the wall.

Another interesting note… I found out my husband is allergic
to wool. I will leave the methods of our discovery to your imagination.

Copyright 2008 by Maria Hall, 3152 Brethren Church Road,
White Pine, TN 37890. <berthall at bellsouth.net>. Permission is granted
for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited.
Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the
author receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would
appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the
Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track
which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.